New England Revolution 3 - CAI 0: 3 CCC Round 1 Thoughts

Let's do that soccer

Photo Courtesy of New England Revolution

The New England Revolution played their first home match of 2024 as they faced Club Atlético Independiente in the second leg of Concacaf Champions Cup Round 1 play.

With their win on the road in the first leg, New England secured just their second win as visitors in CCC play. The crucial away goal made the Revs heavy favorites to advance.

Caleb Porter deployed his typical 4-2-3-1 formation. DeJuan Jones, Dave Romney, Andrew Farrell, and Henry Kessler made up the back line as Matt Polster and Ian Harkes served as defensive midfielders.

On the attack, Giacomo Vrioni started at striker with Tomas Chancalay and Nacho Gil on the wings. Carles Gil patrolled the midfield as the Revs No.10 and captain.

But what do you need to know about New England’s win on Thursday? Here are three thoughts.

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1 - Brotherly Love

It didn’t take long for New England to find the back of the net and it was a family affair.

In the 10th minute after receiving a touch from Giacomo Vrioni at the top of the box, Carles nutmegged a CAI defender and Nacho slotted it home to open up the scoring.

While the magic is to be expected from New England’s captain, the younger Gil has performed well against the Panamanian side as he played a part in jumpstarting the play that led to Tomas Chancalay’s goal in the first leg.

The competition for the starting winger spot opposite Chancalay will be fierce. Currently, Esmir Bajraktarevic and Gil are battling for the spot but once Dylan Borrero is healthy the competition will grow even stronger.

But Gil will now need to show he can perform at a similar level against MLS competition. If he does, Caleb Porter will have some tough choices to make when picking his starting XI.

2 - More Magic From Tomas

Similarly to Nacho Gil finding success against The Vikings, Chancalay seems to love playing against the Panamanian side.

In the 57th minute, Bajraktarevic bolted down the right flank with possession after coming on for Carles Gil in the 46th minute. He made the smart play and laid it off to the designated player who slotted it home for his second goal in as many CCC games.

Chancalay is going to play a major part in New England’s attack and potential success in 2024. He is starting to become a difference maker and someone who opponents need to key in on if they don’t want to suffer defeat.

But when you already have captain Carles patrolling the midfield, it’s hard to put the required focus on the Argentine. This could allow him to light up the stat sheet.

Also, it appears the magician celly is here to stay. Along with replacing Bou as a DP, Chancalay is also replacing La Pantera in the signature celly department.

3 - Amarelo Amor

Vrioni must have some infatuation with the color yellow because he picked up yet another yellow card on Thursday evening.

Now to Vrioni’s credit, it was a bogus yellow. The card was given for simulation even though it clearly looked like contact was made. The referee would have better off simply not making a call at all instead of giving a yellow to the striker based on the contact.

The yellow was Vrioni’s third in nearly 170 minutes which isn’t what you want to see from your striker. Hopefully, that is a habit that the designated player is able to kick quite quickly.

Still, he had some movement and was able to secure two assists. Overall it was a pretty solid showing for the striker.

Considering that he is suspended for Sunday’s match against Toronto FC, he will have to wait until New England plays Atlanta United on the road March 9 to see if he can go a game without receiving a yellow.

But New England advanced to the next round of CCC play and will take on Liga Deportiva Alajuelense in the next round.